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Tag: Business Solutions

  • 3 Ways to Fuel Your Digital Media Growth in 2023

    3 Ways to Fuel Your Digital Media Growth in 2023

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    In light of recent shakeups at tech companies, a possible looming recession and enduring inflation, it’s never been more important for companies to reallocate marketing budgets across a variety of platforms to maximize return on investment. Collectively, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet (Google) and Meta (Facebook/Instagram) have lost more than $3 trillion in market value this year alone, according to Bloomberg.

    Frequent mass layoffs and highly volatile technology stock prices have led companies to wonder whether these firms are stable enough to continue advertising with. And even if they are, should channel priorities change?

    A few digital media shift highlights of 2022:

    • After Elon Musk’s chaotic takeover of Twitter — including his sudden departure as CEO and both introducing and then disposing of subscriptions for Twitter Blue — advertisers have been anxiously pulling paid media spend, fearing brand safety, misinformation and minimal content moderation.
    • Tech layoffs were so common that they quickly became trending hashtags, including #TwitterLayoffs and #MetaLayoffs.
    • Meta’s valuation plunged this past February and set off Wall Street’s worst drop in nearly a year, with Meta shares falling more than 26%, representing a $230 billion decrease in its market value, according to The New York Times. This plunge comes on the heels of Facebook’s re-brand to Meta, including a pivot from driving brand growth through performance-centric ads to its Metaverse future vision focused on augmented and virtual reality.

    Related: “Tweets are read ~100 times more than they are liked,” Musk Rolls Out New View Count Feature

    So, how can leaders confidently put together 2023 marketing budgets and forecast return on ad spend (ROAS) when the technology firms they’ve been advertising with — and upon which they have become so reliant to drive brand awareness, new leads and revenue — have seemingly become so unstable?

    My experience managing digital marketing at B2C companies like Nike, L’Oréal and Meta, and now as vice president of digital media at The Bliss Group (a data-driven marketing communications agency focused on financial services, professional services and healthcare) grants me unique insight into the future of these and other media platforms.

    With that in mind, here are tips for optimizing 2023 marketing plans and budgets:

    1. What do the metrics show? Re-evaluate your analytics

    Performance starts and ends with a weekly assessment of metrics. The ability to determine why numbers are up or down is critical in order to drive sustainable growth. For example, if Twitter is an important channel for your brand engagement strategy, start looking more closely at recent trends. Have your followers been significantly increasing or decreasing, and more quickly than usual? An unexpected increase could indicate bots, while a sudden decrease could indicate that followers are leaving the platform. If you’re seeing a significant decrease, it might impact referral traffic from Twitter to your company’s website, potentially leading to fewer new visits and leads.

    Tip: For Twitter, it might be worth pausing ads until the platform stabilizes, and re-allocating that budget portion to another channel like TikTok, Instagram or LinkedIn, depending on where your audience is. And for organic social media, be sure to monitor comments on your corporate Twitter account. If sentiment is trending more negatively than usual, re-consider the type of content you’re promoting and/or how frequently you post. For B2B firms, it might be worth re-focusing on other channels, like LinkedIn.

    Related: How to Make Social Media Marketing Effective for Your Brand

    2. Who are you talking to? Re-assess your audience

    The way advertisers identify and target audiences is changing, including increased friction between balancing data privacy best practices and delivering personalized content. To provide a truly one-to-one user journey, marketers need to have a clear understanding of who they’re talking to. The challenge? There has been a heightened global focus on data privacy, with government regulation at the forefront (i.e., GDPR in the EU, Google Chrome’s possible deprecation of third-party cookies and Apple’s iOS changes).

    Because of these shifts, it might become more difficult for companies to identify a highly segmented audience, track its behavior and assess paid media metrics. This could impact digital advertising campaigns’ re-targeting, measurement and attribution. (Source: Meta & Deloitte Digital, Q3 2022).

    Ensure that your organization clearly understands what audience data is being collected and by whom, what technology tools are housing that data and how you plan to leverage information in marketing communications and reporting. In other words, continue to invest in paid media campaigns, but be sure to prioritize owned media by capturing first-party data on your website, rather than being completely reliant on third-party data through various ad platforms.

    Tip: To grow an audience base through owned media, focus on collecting new email addresses on your website (lead generation), then follow up with a strategic lead nurture campaign in which your company sends segmented “Welcome” emails, with personalized content to new users. By honing your website customer relationship management strategy, if third-party cookies were to go away in the future, your company will be prepared, since it has already developed a direct relationship with its audience and captured information in a trustworthy way.

    Related: 3 Tips to Re-Engage With Isolated Consumers

    3. What happens after the click? Create a streamlined user experience

    More than 80% of smartphone users access email on their devices, but if they are not easily readable on mobile, consumers delete them in three seconds, according to HubSpot. If subscribers open your email, click on the content and land on your website, what messaging do they see? Do they take an action, or do they immediately leave? It’s critical to use responsive design and prioritize the mobile website journey.

    Tip: Create a seamless “after the click” experience. Align your company’s email with its website content. Develop concise benefits-oriented copy with a clear image, a consistent user experience that ensures all key messages are “above the fold” (at the top of the mobile landing page) and a clear call-to-action, using buttons that are action-oriented, such as “Download Now”). The simpler the user experience, the higher the engagement.

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    Melissa Stone

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  • What Separates the Best From the Rest in Technology Sales?

    What Separates the Best From the Rest in Technology Sales?

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Acquiring new customers and retaining existing ones in the technology space is tough. It’s a lengthy sales cycle, competition is stiff, and you’re dealing with decision-makers from up, down and across the organization. And there’s always at least one executive barking that familiar, dogged refrain: “Show. Me. The. ROI.”

    All of this means your salespeople need to be at the top of their game. As to what separates the best from the rest in technology sales, the RAIN Group Center for Sales Research conducted a global study on the skills and behaviors of top performers. Here’s some of what was uncovered:

    Related: The 10 Traits Every Good Salesperson Has in Common

    What characterizes a top performer in technology sales?

    Before I dig into the skills and behaviors, let’s be clear on what defines a top performer in technology sales. They do the following:

    Not surprisingly, salespeople earn top-performer status by winning more business. The average win rate of top performers in technology is 74% compared to only 47% for “the rest.” As such, top performers are more difficult to find. In our study, they represent only 20% of respondents. Most technology sellers (80%) belong in “the rest.”

    Related: 3 Traits High Performing Sales Reps Have That Average Sales Reps Don’t

    The 6 greatest differences between the best and the rest

    So, what sales skills should you look for in technology sales reps? More importantly, what skills most differentiate top performers and the rest? Our study found that the best sellers are much more likely to excel at these six specific skills and behaviors:

    • 2x more likely to focus on their agenda, not reacting to and getting derailed by others

    • 2x more likely to present overall value cases compellingly and persuasively

    • 2x more likely to tell good stories when selling

    • 2x more likely to have coaching to lead masterful sales conversations

    • 1.9x more likely to change habits when needed to improve results

    • 1.8x more likely to avoid distraction

    Three important themes emerge from this data:

    1. Driving productivity

    Three of the top six skills and behaviors relate to productivity. Top performers are much more likely to stay focused on their agenda, adapt their habits when needed and remain impervious to distraction.

    Despite the data, we see too little focus on productivity in the sales space. If you’re looking for top performers in technology sales, look for a track record of accountability, proactivity and time management.

    2. Effective coaching

    Top performers are much more likely to have managers who excel at coaching them to lead masterful sales conversations. They have the tools to succeed with virtual selling, too.

    Across the board, we found that top-performing sales managers in technology are more likely to have better coaching skills. The No. 1 sales management and coaching skill most separating top performers from the rest is “Coaching sellers to lead masterful sales conversations.” Indeed, top performers (47%) are significantly more likely to excel here compared to the rest (23%).

    The fact is sales are won and lost in the conversations sellers have with buyers. When sellers receive the coaching they need to lead effective conversations, it translates to results. To that end, sales managers should participate in ride-a-longs, listen to recordings of sales conversations and participate in simulations with their sellers.

    3. Making the case

    The second largest gap between top performers in technology sales and the rest is the ability of top performers to make a compelling value case. And this is not just about presenting an ROI case. There are five cases a seller must make to influence buyers:

    1. Priorities: Sellers need to influence buyers that this is important and worthy of the priority list.

    2. Approaches: Sellers need to show that this is the right approach to solving their problem. This is where telling good stories comes into play. Sellers who do this well show how their approach has worked for others and can and will work for the buyer.

    3. Return on investment: Most sellers talk about ROI, but few are skilled in making a strong ROI case. In fact, only 16% of buyers report that sellers are effective at making a powerful ROI case. This leaves a lot of room for improvement for most sellers.

    4. Decisions: Too many sales are lost to no decision. Sellers need to influence and persuade buyers to act.

    5. Partners: Sellers need to make the case that they are the best partner to help the buyer succeed. Relationships and value come into play here. The more value a seller can provide in the sales process and the stronger the relationship they’re able to build, the more likely the buyer will view them as the preferred partner.

    Related: 5 Tricks to Instantly Connect With Any Sales Prospect

    Final word: When it comes to B2B tech sales, trust the data

    To overcome the challenges of selling technology, your team needs to make finding and cultivating top performers a core competency. The data research clearly shows that people who know how to sell technology do things differently. They:

    • Stay focused on their priorities

    • Make persuasive value cases

    • Tell good stories

    • Have solid coaching

    • Adapt their habits as needed

    • Avoid distraction

    That’s the data-backed rubric for better tech salespeople. How does your team stack up?

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    Andy Springer

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  • Last Chance to Get Microsoft Office for Just $30

    Last Chance to Get Microsoft Office for Just $30

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    The year is beginning and you might be feeling like you deserve a reward for navigating yet another challenging year. We agree, which is why we’re offering a massive discount one last time on a lifetime license to Microsoft Office.


    StackCommerce

    This year promises to be a challenging one as well, but with Microsoft Office on your side, you’ll be better equipped to navigate all of the obstacles that stand in your way. For only two more days, we’ve dropped the price on a lifetime license for both Mac and Windows versions to just $29.99.

    Both editions are available for instant delivery and download so you can pay just once and have Microsoft Office for life. They both include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and OneNote, giving you everything you need to successfully run your business. Word processing, data analysis, presentations, communication, organization, and more — it’s all covered by Microsoft Office.

    If you’re a Windows user, you’ll get an even more souped-up version that’s optimized for Windows. In addition to those six programs, you’ll also get Access and Publisher, tools that will help you manage complete databases and design your own lookbooks, flyers, and other design documents with ease. Plus, the Windows version utilizes the new ribbon-based interface that allows you to access all tools and customizations across the suite through one simple view. That way, if you’re working on a project that requires input from multiple programs, you can easily access everything you need in one view.

    Microsoft Office has been the world’s most popular office software for decades for good reason. Treat yourself to a lifetime license while it’s on sale for 91% off $349 at just $29.99 until Sunday 1/8. Get it for Mac or Windows while supplies last.

    Prices subject to change.

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    Entrepreneur Store

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  • 5 Ways to Make Money With a Mobile App for Your Business

    5 Ways to Make Money With a Mobile App for Your Business

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Mobile apps continue to grow in popularity, which offers little surprise when considering the ubiquitous nature of the smartphone. This scenario leads many companies to consider crafting their own app, likely targeting both Apple iOS and Android platforms. Sometimes their goal for the app involves generating publicity for their business or even driving engagement from their customer base.

    However, in many cases, businesses craft a mobile app simply as a source of revenue. In this situation, it becomes critical to fully understand the potential revenue models available to any app. This understanding then informs the process of evaluating which model makes the most sense for the business.

    So let’s take a high-level overview of the different revenue models available to entrepreneurs building a mobile app and how to evaluate these models to help you decide on which one provides the best opportunity. Remember, this analysis needs to happen before you design any interface wireframes or write one line of code. In the end, a successful app launch likely depends on making this initial effort.

    Related: How Can App Makers Improve Revenue and Keep Users Engaged?

    In-app advertising

    Embedded ads within a mobile app offer one obvious approach to generating revenue. However, this revenue stream really only applies to free apps, as displaying ads in a paid app likely hampers the growth of the app’s user base. In fact, a common practice in mobile games or other apps involves using an in-app purchase to remove ads.

    Notably, the market for in-app advertising continues to generate significant growth across the planet. According to Absolute Market Insights, the in-app ad market reached $66.78 billion in 2018 and is forecast to hit $472.64 billion by 2027. This growth shows a compound annual growth rate of 24.4% over that 10-year period. Again, any app needs a large user base to generate significant ad revenue, so consider making your app free to attract users.

    The “freemium” app approach

    Somewhat related to in-app advertising, a freemium app also serves to attract a large user base to a compelling app experience. Additional content or features then become unlocked after buying an in-app purchase. In fact, we just highlighted the fact that users take advantage of this approach to turn off in-app advertising.

    This revenue stream strategy is common in gaming apps as well as music production and instrument apps, with the latter niche more common on the iOS platform. A user might own a free beat-making app, and get access to new synthesizers or drum machines after buying an IAP. Some music app developers also use this revenue model to provide new sounds and synth patches to their user community.

    Related: How to Create an App for Your Business With Zero Coding Experience

    Offering subscriptions to generate revenue

    Additionally, other developers are using subscriptions to provide a repeatable revenue source for their mobile apps typically offered on a freemium basis. Not surprisingly, magazines and comic books sometimes leverage this revenue stream strategy. However, note that Apple and Google Play take a cut of any revenue generated using subscriptions; this also applies to any in-app purchase.

    The subscription model can also be very valuable for B2B apps. Creating a mobile app that integrates with a SaaS solution is a great way to expand the platform to a larger audience and deliver more value — which justifies monthly subscription fees.

    Monetize your mobile app data

    Depending on the nature of your mobile app, its data potential potentially serves as a valuable revenue stream. Of course, this valuation ultimately depends on the size of the app’s user base and the nature of the data. When leveraging data monetization as a revenue strategy, you need clearly note this in the app’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

    This is one of the best examples of why you need to determine your revenue model before developing your product. GasBuddy is an example of an app that generated a strong user base with a very sticky venture and zero plans for how to monetize their mobile app. They ended up secretly (i.e. illegally) selling user data and getting into trouble when users started noticing the extra drain on resources and battery from GasBuddy collecting location information.

    While monetizing data isn’t the most popular monetization strategy, it can work if it is done legally and you are completely transparent about it from the beginning.

    Related: Building an App? Follow These 4 Steps to See Things Through

    The traditional paid app revenue model

    Of course, actually charging for an app provides an easy way to generate revenue. Paid apps need to provide users with a top-shelf experience and compelling functionality. As such, these apps tend to be mobile games, music creation apps (including synthesizers) and productivity apps, like video editing or graphic design software. Leveraging the freemium model with certain features unlocked through an IAP also works, but paid apps also provide IAPs. Once again, this approach depends on the overall quality of the app and the functionality it provides.

    Make sure you fully understand the rules of the Apple Store and Play Store and how they will affect your revenue model. Last month, Apple updated their App Store rules to take 30% of sales on “boosts” for social media posts. This is the first time Apple has directly taxed advertising in iOS apps and is just one example of a recent change that could significantly impact your revenue.

    What revenue model makes sense for your mobile app?

    As noted earlier, before one line of code gets written, you need to determine which revenue model works best for your company’s mobile app. This analysis includes figuring out the potential size of the user community and the amount of revenue you’ll need to break even. Those factors directly influence the potential of using in-app advertising and data monetization as revenue streams.

    If your app requires millions of users to become profitable, you need to set realistic goals for reaching those milestones. Personally, we’ve found more success with subscription-based app revenue models that require a lower number of users to reach profitability. But, charging high subscription fees doesn’t work for every app.

    In the end, entrepreneurs need to take this analytical approach to ensure their mobile app truly makes an impact. Anything less simply won’t generate enough interest — or revenue.

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    Andrew Amann

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  • 4 Ways Pet Care Industry Must Transform Its Marketing

    4 Ways Pet Care Industry Must Transform Its Marketing

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    The pet care industry is on a tremendous upward growth curve. More frequently than ever, human beings are bringing furry friends into their lives and discovering how quickly they become family. The business of pet care doesn’t end once someone stops by the shelter or pet store and comes home with a cute puppy. It’s far more complex than that, so it stands to reason that marketers should approach pet parents intricately.

    A common marketing trend in the pet care industry is to throw all and sundry at the market and see what sticks. But, as with any other industry, understanding your customer and their needs is everything. You will miss the big catch if you’re casting your net too broadly.

    Sharpen your focus with four specific strategies, and you’ll soon see your pet care company grow:

    1. Personalization

    Understanding the customer persona each of your products serves and crafting your brand to fit those customer profiles is key to reaching the right pet parents. Your customer may be a cat person, but is their feline friend a kitten or a senior? Do they have long fur that needs grooming or an easy-to-manage short coat? Indoor only, or do they have access to a garden? Drilling down to the depths of your customers’ needs is undoubtedly the best start to transforming your marketing strategy.

    Related: Are You Giving Your Customers Personalized Experiences? Here’s Why You Can’t Afford to Ignore It Any Longer.

    2. Understand the pet life cycle

    Puppies and kittens are wonderful, but that time makes up a very short period of the entire life cycle of our pets. If your pet care company markets only to this stage, you’re missing an entire segment of the market.

    As pets grow, their needs change. Their food requirements are different and they interact with different toys. Dogs may attend training classes and teenage cats may need scratch posts when they start to flex those claws. Senior pets, especially, have very specific needs. Older pets have no use for toys or training clickers; the focus is on keeping this pet pain-free and relaxed in their old age. If need be, consult a veterinarian to understand the life cycle of the various types of pets you’re marketing to. Especially if you’re focused on exotic animals who may have a far shorter or longer life cycle than an average dog or cat.

    3. Track like a hound

    The pet care industry is quite unique, but one thing it has in common with all other industries is the need for accurate attribution. It is vital to understand how each pet parent came to be your customer, what channels they used and what marketing action causes them to move through the sales funnel.

    It’s also important to avoid making any assumptions about your customers based on their last known interactions with your business. Monitor their movements and reactions to your campaigns carefully to understand what drives them.

    If there is one aspect of attribution that is almost always forgotten, it is telephone calls. Pet parents have questions. They want to be 100% sure that what they’re buying for Tiger or Fido is the right fit. And you can be guaranteed that a vast majority of these customers will want to speak with a human being to assure them of this. Telephone calls are a vital part of the sales process, regardless of whether the person on the line is inquiring or complaining. If you aren’t tracking phone calls, you’re missing an entire leg of your customer’s journey.

    Related: Man’s Best Friend — And Investment: The Thriving Industry of Pet-Related Franchising

    4. Get creative

    There are no one-size-fits-all marketing campaigns in the pet care industry. What resonates deeply with one pet parent may mean nothing to another, so getting creative with your campaigns is vital.

    Just like human parenting, parts of the pet parent journey often don’t get discussed. You might be surprised how many customers will resonate with a campaign around less-discussed issues like separation anxiety or bladder weakness.

    The tail end

    Although these marketing strategies are particularly helpful to the pet care industry, they apply to most industries with a few slight tweaks.

    By implementing these marketing strategies, you can increase your ROI dramatically and put your marketing dollars to good use.

    Pet care is an exciting and fulfilling industry to work in. If you learn to focus on your customers as individuals and understand their needs, you’ll build lifelong brand relationships with them and their furry companions.

    Related: 4 Reasons the Pandemic Is a Boon for the Pet Industry

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    Sergio Alvarez

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  • How Facebook’s Demise Will Change Digital Advertising

    How Facebook’s Demise Will Change Digital Advertising

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Facebook is in trouble. Social media platforms need constant growth to survive, but Facebook is no longer growing. In fact, it’s losing users. As Facebook’s core platform slowed down, Mark Zuckerberg made the fateful decision to shift focus to the metaverse, going so far as to change the company’s name, mission statement and stock ticker symbol to reflect this new direction.

    The public response was swift and decisive: People don’t want the metaverse, and especially not a half-baked version from Facebook. Even among those who are excited about the potential of virtual reality, there’s a sense that Facebook’s technology is decades behind the leading edge. And so people are leaving Facebook. Today, META’s stock is down around 70% from its highs.

    This exodus will have a profound impact on digital advertising. Facebook has long been the go-to platform for marketers looking to reach young people, and its targeting capabilities are unrivaled. But with Facebook no longer growing, and with users increasingly spending less time on the site, businesses will start to look elsewhere for their digital advertising needs.

    As a result, brands will need to find new platforms to reach their target audiences. They’ll also need to put greater importance on user privacy, as the public is no longer willing to tolerate Facebook’s cavalier attitude towards data. In addition, given the Facebook-fueled rise in ad blockers, brands will need to find ways to reach people that don’t rely on traditional display advertising.

    Related: 4 Digital Advertising Predictions You Need to Keep Your Eyes On

    Brands turn to new platforms

    When Facebook first launched, it was a novel way for businesses to reach their target audiences. There was nothing else like it, and so businesses flocked to the platform. But now there are many other social media platforms, and businesses will need to spread their advertising budgets across multiple sites.

    This won’t be easy, as each platform has its own quirks and capabilities. For example, TikTok is popular with young people, but it doesn’t have the same kind of targeting capabilities as Facebook. And while Instagram is owned by Facebook, it has a very different user base and set of features.

    Advertising on Twitter is an entirely new can of worms. Following the platform’s acquisition by Elon Musk and the subsequent removal of content restrictions put in place to appease advertisers, Twitter is now a Wild West of sorts. Many advertisers have pulled their budgets from the platform, but those who remain are finding that they need to adjust their strategies.

    Google is another behemoth that brands need to consider. While it’s not a social media platform, its search and display advertising businesses are still enormous. Like Facebook, however, advertisers face fake news and bots on Google. The company is also embroiled in antitrust investigations, which could lead to stricter regulation of its advertising business.

    All this is to say that brands need to be nimble and adaptable in the post-Facebook world. They need to be willing to experiment with different platforms, and they need to have a clear understanding of each one’s strengths and weaknesses.

    Related: What to Post on Each Social Media Platform: The Complete Guide to Optimizing Your Social Content

    Businesses focus on user privacy

    As people become more aware of the ways that their data is being used and abused, they’re increasingly demanding more control over their personal information. This is especially true of young people, who are growing up in a world where data breaches are commonplace.

    In response to this, brands will need to start respecting user privacy. They’ll need to be more transparent about how they’re using data, and they’ll need to give users more control over their personal information. This will require a fundamental shift in the way that many businesses operate, but it’s something that needs to be done if brands want to stay on the good side of the public.

    I’ve written before about the rise of zero-party data. This is a new kind of data that users voluntarily share with businesses, such as through quizzes, surveys and sign-ups. This data is incredibly valuable, as it allows businesses to get to know their customers on a much deeper level. Unlike third-party data, which is often inaccurate and outdated, zero-party data is fresh and accurate.

    As user privacy becomes more important, brands will need to start collecting this type of data. They’ll need to find new ways to engage with their customers, and they’ll need to invest in the necessary technology. This will require a significant amount of time and money, but it’s something that needs to be done if brands want to stay relevant in the post-Facebook world.

    Related: The 5 Best Digital Marketing Strategies to Empower Your Business

    Interactive content dominates

    The most successful advertising campaigns of the future will be those that manage to break through the clutter and capture people’s attention. In a world where people are bombarded with hundreds of marketing messages every day, this is no easy feat.

    One way to do this is with interactive content. This is content that requires people to take some kind of action, such as answering questions for a style quiz or responding to a poll measuring interest in a new product. Because interactive content is more engaging than traditional display advertising, it’s more likely to capture people’s attention and get them to take notice of your brand.

    Facebook’s sheer staying power has meant that many brands have been slow to catch on to this trend. But with the platform’s decline, they’ll need to start experimenting with new types of content if they want to stay ahead of the curve.

    Ultimately, the demise of Facebook will have a profound impact on the world of digital advertising. Brands will need to find new platforms to reach their target audiences, and they’ll need to put a greater emphasis on user privacy. In addition, given the rise in ad blockers, brands will need to find ways to reach people that don’t rely on traditional display advertising.

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    Vlad Gozman

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  • How to Go From Unknown to a Must-Have for Your Clients

    How to Go From Unknown to a Must-Have for Your Clients

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Going from unknown to must-have in your client acquisition process can be a challenging task. But it is not impossible. By following a few simple steps, you can increase your sales and become an authority in your industry. Below are three easy steps that anyone can follow to achieve this goal:

    1. Targeting

    When it comes to selling your product or service, choosing the right audience is crucial. It will help ensure that you’re offering a solution to a problem that your potential customers actually have. And it will also increase the chances of making a sale.

    First and foremost, it’s important to have a clear understanding of who your ideal customer is. This will require some research and analysis of your current customer base, as well as a deep dive into the needs and pain points of your target audience.

    Once you have a better understanding of who your ideal customer is, it’s time to start narrowing down your target audience even further. This can be done through a variety of methods, such as demographics, interests and behavior.

    Related: Personalization: A Perspective On The Future Of Targeting

    2. Messaging

    When crafting your messaging, it’s important to keep your target audience in mind. Catering your messaging to the stage of the buyer’s journey that your average customer is at is crucial. For example, your average customer doesn’t yet understand the problem that your product or service solves. Then it’s not effective to talk about how awesome your offering is. Instead, focus on educating and informing your audience about the problem and how your solution can help.

    Once you’ve honed in on the right messaging for your audience, it’s important to differentiate yourself from your competitors. Most businesses use similar phrasing, deliverables and outcomes when describing how they can help customers. By changing just one of these aspects, you can create an uneven playing field and tilt the odds in your favor. For example, offering a performance-based model or pay-on-completion pricing can set you apart from competitors and make you more attractive to potential customers.

    3. Leveraging press

    When it comes to marketing and growing a business, leveraging public relations can be one of the most effective strategies. Not only does it increase brand credibility, but if done right it has the potential for short- and long-term lead generation results. Boosting personal and company reputation attracts and converts qualified sales leads at an increased rate compared to competitors. Utilizing press with a well-oiled sales and marketing funnel is like adding the cherry on top to a gourmet cake.

    Boosting your personal and company reputation through press can attract and convert qualified sales leads at an increased rate compared to competitors. Utilizing press with a well-oiled sales and marketing funnel is like adding the cherry on top to a gourmet cake.

    So, how can you effectively leverage press within your business? Here are some tips:

    • Identify your target audience and develop a plan to reach them. This includes determining which publications and outlets your audience reads or watches, as well as identifying relevant journalists and influencers to target.

    • Create a press kit that includes all the necessary information about your business, such as your mission and vision, key differentiators and any recent accomplishments or newsworthy events. Make sure to include high-resolution photos and branding materials.

    • Develop a list of compelling story angles that showcase your business in a positive light and highlight the value you provide to your customers. These can include customer success stories, industry trends and expert insights from your team.

    • Reach out to journalists and influencers with a personalized pitch that outlines your story angle and the value it offers to their audience. Be sure to follow up with them to ensure they receive your press kit and to answer any questions they may have.

    • Monitor your press coverage and track its impact on your business. This will help you identify which outlets and stories are generating the most engagement and leads, and can inform future PR efforts.

    By following these tips, you can effectively leverage press to increase brand credibility and generate leads for your business. In today’s competitive landscape, standing out from the competition is crucial and leveraging press can be a powerful tool in achieving that goal.

    In conclusion, going from unknown to must-have in your client acquisition process requires a combination of targeted messaging, effective positioning, leveraging press and building a community. By following these steps, you can increase your sales and become an authority in your industry.

    Related: 5 Golden Benefits of PR

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    Carson Spitzke

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  • 9 Lessons Entrepreneurship Will Teach You

    9 Lessons Entrepreneurship Will Teach You

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Once upon a time, my wife Jenna and I and our three kids under ten moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles, had another baby, and bought our first house together. This, we thought, is the perfect time to quit our jobs and start a business! [eyeroll]

    The idea of our company, Be Courageous, was born during the facilitation of a client session when the team was at odds with each other while exploring the future of their business. This quote from George Prince was on the wall: “Another word for creativity is courage.”

    I realized many of us stay trapped in old thinking and actions when we lack the conditions to be creative and courageous.

    A question emerged for me, “What would a world with an abundance of courage look like? How can I help create it?”

    With my experience in marketing, strategy and facilitation, and Jenna’s in psychology, human resources and operations, we founded our business consultancy, Be Courageous. Every year we’ve grown. Every year our impact has expanded. Every year we’ve learned.

    Here are some of our biggest learnings for those of you on your entrepreneurial journey.

    Related: The 7 Business Lessons You Should Learn by 30

    9 lessons from five years of learning

    As any reader here knows, starting and running a business is a piece of cake. Ha!

    For real, here is what we learned, having grown our U.S. business of two to a worldwide organization with dozens of clients and 35+ network partners while positively impacting nearly 1 million people in 82 countries.

    1. Agility

    One of our most in-demand programs with Fortune 500 companies this year has been our training on agile leadership. When you own your own business — the unexpected will happen. A successful entrepreneur adapts to new challenges and situations and creates lemonade from lemons.

    We have created programs we never thought we would in response to what the world has needed from us.

    Have a solid plan, but be flexible.

    Related: These Are the Core Elements Needed to Successfully Pivot Your Business

    2. Purpose

    We aim to activate courage in companies worldwide and align them with a planet-beneficial future. Yours might be to improve humanity’s mental health or lessen people’s stress by building an easier-to-use product. Whatever your purpose is, make sure you’re deeply passionate about it and that it fuels your actions.

    Use the strength of your purpose to courage through challenges.

    3. Superpowers (and kryptonite)

    We found more success when we identified and focused on our greatest strengths. We aligned our strengths with our values and the services we wanted to provide to our clients to solve a problem they faced.

    For example, my superpower is guiding businesses to realize their potential and future. My kryptonite is getting tripped up in the micro-details of spreadsheets. That’s where Jenna comes in. She leads operations with her superpower of keeping our company financially stable, growing and on the ground. I’m the visionary, and she makes it possible.

    Align your superpowers with your business goals and values. Find people who have superpowers you lack.

    Related: Find Your Flow Through Deep Work and Unlock Your Superpower

    4. Curiosity

    In an exponentially-changing world, having an open mind is the key to running a successful business. Be curious about skills you don’t have and new ways to solve problems. Challenges will arise, but if your curiosity remains peaked, you’ll always get to the solution positively. Ask, “What is the courage needed in this situation?”

    Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it feeds company growth. (We’re a dog company, anyway, no offense to cats.)

    5. Healthy company culture

    Create a team that feels safe, strong, empowered and able to share and receive ideas. When you foster personal connections with your team and your clients (yes, business is personal), you will thrive beyond competitors who are only in it for the buck.

    Develop a positive company culture to unlock the full potential of your team.

    Related: 4 Ways Leaders Can Create Award-Winning Corporate Culture

    6. Operational foundation

    While you don’t want to get bogged down in systems and processes, your business won’t thrive without a solid operational foundation. Get an understanding of legal, financial and team infrastructure.

    Stay pragmatic and, as we like to say, “aggressively conservative.” We make leaps, but only with a net.

    Develop systems to streamline your business, so you can focus on serving your customers.

    7. Integrity

    Many people make empty promises, which erodes trust over time. It’s far better to over-deliver on your word. Pay what you say you will, earlier than you say you will. We’ve established deep, trusting relationships with our clients. We foster community.

    We get callbacks five years after doing one program with a client because we don’t burn bridges; we build them.

    Show up with your heart, don’t be a jerk, and honor your word.

    Related: Understanding the Burden of Trust for Business Leaders

    8. Optimism

    Never doubt what you can achieve, yet don’t be disillusioned. Approach everyone you can as a holistic human being, putting aside bias. Presume positive intent and look for positive solutions. Expect people to be their best until proven otherwise. And even then, be graceful about terminating any relationships.

    Work and live from a place of abundance, not scarcity.

    9. Mindful hiring

    Be thoughtful about who you bring into your organization.

    We hire a type of person — not only for the exact level of expertise we need. We hire people in love with our vision. A person who can be adaptive and learn with us. Who is willing to put in the work for a shared purpose.

    Hire the right puzzle piece for your vision, not just how they look on paper.

    Related: Why Kindness Should Be Part of Your Hiring Process

    Bottom line

    Owning your own business isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s an ebb and flow of successes and learnings. But 20 years from now, if you look back, would you regret not doing something about your big and burning idea?

    Fear will never go away, but when the desire to fulfill your purpose outweighs the fear of risks involved, that’s when you know you’re made to be an entrepreneur.

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    Kyle Hermans

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  • What Is Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Here Are Its Benefits, Uses and More

    What Is Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Here Are Its Benefits, Uses and More

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    Companies, commentators and even sci-fi movies can’t stop talking about artificial intelligence (AI).

    Indeed, AI in the real world is far from the artificial intelligence villains you might recall from your favorite sci-fi flick.

    This article will break down what artificial intelligence is, how it works and how it’s used in the real world. It will also explore AI technology’s benefits and potential downsides now and in the near future.

    Artificial intelligence explained

    Artificial intelligence is the computer simulation of human intelligence. It’s programming one or more machines to act in a way that mimics or replicates human behavior. AI breakthroughs are tied to computer science and programming languages, and applications of AI are scalable to simplify workflows across various industries.

    Depending on the AI program or software used, it can more or less act similarly to someone doing the same task when viewed from the outside as an observer.

    In general, AI is about creating software that is “smart” enough to do complex tasks without excessive human intervention or direction.

    Indeed, AI researchers want to program computers to rationalize and think semi-independently. In this way, AI computers and software will likely be able to solve problems faster and better than humans can.

    Artificial intelligence is closely connected to machine learning models, a technology that allows machines and computer programs to learn from and adapt the data without human assistance.

    For example, a software program could be created (in theory) to run several tests, take the results from those tests, and come to conclusions or better processes without a human having to interfere or direct it.

    Artificial intelligence is not about building anything you may have seen in science-fiction stories, like killer robots, war machines and similar constructions. Rather, it’s usually about maximizing efficiency, productivity and profit. Most AI research and AI development focus on use cases in the financial, business, supply chain, cybersecurity and healthcare industries.

    Related: 3 Ways Machine Learning Can Help Entrepreneurs

    What does AI really mean?

    For most people, AI means that computers are becoming more intelligent and capable without human direction.

    It’s all based on the idea that human intelligence can be defined and then mimicked so that software can reliably emulate it, even to the point where humans can’t tell whether they are talking to a machine or a real person.

    In some cases, this is already true. Many people get fooled by ordinary customer service chatbot messaging or similar intelligent systems, which have enough preprogrammed sentences and responses that they can feel relatively lifelike.

    However, AI researchers and machine learning software programmers are focused more on making types of artificial intelligence that can do more profound, more complex work and emulate human intelligence more comprehensively.

    In a certain sense, humanity has reached the pinnacle of simple machine technology and inventions. With machines that can do precise tasks and carry out complex commands (if programmed correctly), the next phase in machine development is creativity, initiative and complex “thought.”

    This doesn’t mean that AI will replace humans in all aspects, nor will artificial intelligence spell the end of the human race. It does, however, mean that many new technological advancements could be in the future.

    These AI system advancements include:

    • Neural networks that mimic the activity of the human brain.
    • Deep learning algorithms.
    • Natural language processing and speech recognition AI algorithms.
    • New ways to automate systems.
    • Decision-making capabilities.
    • Real-time computer vision overlays or screens.

    Related: 5 Ways Artificial Intelligence Is Already Influencing Your Daily Life and You Don’t Even Know It

    Why is AI important?

    In a practical sense, artificial intelligence is essential for various specific goals and objectives.

    For example, artificial intelligence software may allow enterprises to understand the enormous quantities of data they collect on their target consumers and customers. In this way, businesses can make better decisions about their marketing campaigns, their products and much more.

    Alternatively, artificial intelligence could be critical because AI-powered machines could do some tasks better than humans, especially when it comes to repetitive or detailed-oriented tasks.

    For instance, a computer can read mountains of legal documents much more quickly and accurately than even the savviest legal mind, and it can come to some conclusions to provide to lawyers later on.

    AI is important because:

    • It represents the ability to improve or innovate in industries without much innovation.
    • It may allow humans to exceed current productive capacities even further, meaning more significant profits and more efficient production for businesses and industries.

    Related: What Is AI, Anyway? Know Your Stuff With This Go-To Guide

    How does artificial intelligence work?

    AI works, in essence, like this:

    • A programmer writes a software program using complex, comprehensive and clever language.
    • That software program includes the capability to “learn” from experience, usually by recording event outcomes and changing its behavior in response. This is essentially what machine learning is.
    • The software program then tailors its behavior according to its experience, its predictions for future events and what it needs to do.

    AI programming uses separate cognition skills to facilitate this behavior. Learning processes allow the AI program to acquire data and make rules for using that data to do actions.

    Artificial intelligence programs use reasoning processes to use suitable algorithms and reach specific objectives or outcomes. Self-correction processes are leveraged to rework or fine-tune algorithms and constantly strive for more accurate or desirable results.

    Naturally, this software process is highly complex and resource intensive. Therefore, artificial intelligence technology is only possible in specific contexts and for certain organizations.

    Generally, real AI (as far as it has been developed) is only available to large enterprises and institutions like the government. AI technology uses specially designed hardware, such as special chips, servers and processors, to facilitate its actions.

    In theory, as technology and hardware get better, and people develop new ways to write software creatively, the capabilities of artificial intelligence will continue to grow and expand.

    Artificial intelligence types

    Technically, artificial intelligence can be classified into several different types. The two broadest types are:

    • Narrow or weak AI. Narrow AI is artificial intelligence designed to complete or accommodate very specific tasks. Some examples of limited artificial intelligence include weather app assistants, chatbots and other digital aids, as well as specialized software intended to analyze data and optimize business functions.
    • General or strong AI. General artificial intelligence is closer to the imagined version of AI in sci-fi flicks. It’s not yet fully realized, but it’s intended to be more versatile and flexible than its narrow counterpart. In theory, general AI can do anything necessary, not just one or two tasks very well.

    However, artificial intelligence can also be categorized differently based upon intended function and specific capabilities. These types include:

    • Reactive AI uses algorithms to optimize objectives or outputs based on specified inputs from human users. Examples include chess-playing AIs.
    • Limited memory AI adapts to past experiences and updates itself based on new data or observations. Examples include autonomous vehicles (or the programs that drive them).
    • Theory of mind AI is supposedly fully adaptive and can learn from past experiences. It includes some of the most advanced chatbots that can pass the Turing Test (named after the inventor of the computer, Alan Turing), though they are not self-aware. The Turing Test classifies any machine capable of engaging in conversation with a human without being detected as a machine as demonstrating human intelligence.
    • Self-aware AI is theoretically conscious and aware of its existence, like humans. Self-aware AI has yet to be created.

    How can artificial intelligence be used?

    There are practically no limits to how you can use AI solutions as they are developed and implemented in organizations.

    Nowadays, AI gets used in various industries, and not just as publicity machines like IBM’s Deep Blue or Watson, which famously won a game of Jeopardy! as an artificial general intelligence.

    Related: 5 Ways Artificial Intelligence Is Radically Transforming Creativity in Business

    Healthcare

    In the healthcare industry, artificial intelligence is used to assist with healthcare diagnostics, such as identifying diseases or ailments in patients. That’s because AI can often rival humans at locating and identifying anomalies or issues in diagnostic scans.

    In the healthcare industry, AI is also helpfully utilized to track and maintain patient records, handle health insurance claims and even classify hospital patients quickly and efficiently.

    Driving and machine operation

    Autonomous vehicles like those from Tesla also heavily use modern artificial intelligence programs.

    With self-driving cars, AI may eventually learn from other drivers, fine-tune its own safety practices and drive more safely than even the most experienced human, all while maintaining faster response times due to its computerized nature.

    In addition, the manufacturing and industrial sectors often use limited machine learning or AI software to operate machines requiring incredible precision and repetition.

    Related: What’s Under the ‘Hood’ of Self-Driving Cars?

    Financial applications

    The financial industry can use artificial intelligence to analyze stocks, market trends and other economic activity, thus allowing brokers and fund managers to make better decisions on behalf of their clients. This is similar to algorithmic trading and has been increasingly common in recent years.

    AI is good at this because it can take a lot of information, analyze it quickly and come to accurate conclusions based on past data sets. AI uses expert systems to improve pricing and similar actions over time.

    Gaming

    You can use artificial intelligence programs to make gaming bots or nonplayer characters, also known as NPCs. AI intelligence is getting better in this arena all the time — modern bots can simulate some of the motions or behaviors of human players very realistically by simulating the human mind.

    Related: 3 Surprising Ways That Video Game Companies Leverage AI

    User assistance

    Naturally, artificial intelligence programs are already being used for general user assistance purposes, such as Amazon Alexa. Siri, Cortana, and other basic AI programs will likely become even more sophisticated and intelligent as time goes on.

    Virtual assistants are already among the most commonly used types of AI computer systems and maybe eventually replace personal assistants.

    Data analysis

    You can use artificial intelligence for general data analysis across various industries. Many large organizations already leverage machine learning or AI platforms and programs to understand their data sets. Google famously uses artificial intelligence to understand its billions of users’ queries and search patterns.

    The benefits of AI

    Many people are excited for artificial intelligence technology to grow even further, primarily because of its potential advantages.

    For example, artificial intelligence programs tend to be much better at detail-oriented jobs than humans, as there is less of a chance that these programs would miss details due to fatigue or human error. This can significantly reduce the time needed for data-heavy tasks, and artificial intelligence programs are already better at analyzing big chunks of data than humans.

    In addition, AI can deliver more consistent results with fewer errors than human counterparts. Machines like AI don’t break or make mathematical errors as often as humans, plain and simple.

    Some businesses are also looking into AI to replace specific jobs because AI-powered chatbots, virtual agents and customer service agents are always available 24/7, allowing them to respond to customer complaints quickly and easily, around the clock.

    In a broad sense, AI will allow businesses to make more money, save more and deliver better customer results. The same is true for hospitals, governments and other large organizations that have a lot to do and rely on taking advantage of big data sets.

    Related: AI Gives Outdated Industries a Makeover

    The downsides of AI

    That all said, AI does have some downsides that it needs to overcome.

    For starters, artificial intelligence is universally expensive. This is why only some organizations, like the U.S. government, Google and other big enterprises, can fully take advantage of its technology and benefits.

    In addition, AI usually requires deep technical expertise to leverage it effectively. This requires having the staff on hand to use, edit and repair AI software or technology from time to time, which only adds to its operating expenses.

    Furthermore, since AI is still relatively unproven and still being developed, only a limited number of workers have the qualifications to build AI tools or monitor AI programs.

    Since artificial intelligence hasn’t reached its full potential, it can’t maintain or repair itself, meaning it is liable to have issues or “break down” in specific contexts.

    Given all these flaws, it’s no surprise why artificial intelligence hasn’t yet taken over many industries and sectors, despite its purported importance and power.

    Summary

    Artificial intelligence isn’t a computerized bogeyman out to ruin the world. AI is also not a one-size-fits-all solution for the world’s problems. Rather, artificial intelligence is a valuable software tool that businesses and individuals can leverage for their goals.

    In the future, artificial intelligence may evolve in a somewhat unpredictable direction, offering even more benefits to organizations that take advantage of it.

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  • Save 96% on a Lifetime Subscription to This Convenient Web Hosting Service

    Save 96% on a Lifetime Subscription to This Convenient Web Hosting Service

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Dreaming of starting a business? Do you have a killer app idea or a genius product plan that would wow the investors on Shark Tank? If you’re planning on making any moves, you’re going to need a website. And launching a website requires web hosting, a cost many don’t think about.


    StackCommerce

    If you have a plan to be online in any capacity, you’re going to need to acquire a hosting plan. iBrave Cloud Web Hosting makes launching websites easy and affordable. And right now you can get a lifetime subscription to this convenient service for just $99.99, 96% off the usual price.

    Web hosting can cost hundreds of dollars over the years, but iBrave brings it down to a low one-time price. It’s been designed by experts with over twenty years of industry experience, so you’re in good hands and have access to powerful market-leading technology and lightning-fast servers. The global Content Delivery Network also ensures your website’s performance won’t be affected by other users’ websites.

    Even if you’re new to the world of web hosting, the control panel is user-friendly with more than 80 one-click install apps. There’s also one-click WordPress installation, and the ability to easily migrate your existing websites. Need help? There’s friendly support available seven days a week. All you have to do is purchase a domain name or use one you already own elsewhere and you’ll be up and running for just a one time fee.

    Customers are loving the convenience iBrave brings to running a website. Real-life user Chris shared, “Site speed is very fast, support was quick in reply to my questions. Control panel is easy to use. Overall a great product and I recommend it.”

    Make running a website easier and much more affordable with help from iBrave Cloud Web Hosting. Get a lifetime subscription for just $99.99 for a limited time.

    Prices subject to change.

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  • How Proptech Is Disrupting the Real Estate Industry

    How Proptech Is Disrupting the Real Estate Industry

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Over the last two decades, the real estate industry has experienced significant changes. These changes are due to the influx of new technologies and advancements that benefit many stakeholders, including agents, brokers, developers, property managers, investors, homeowners and entrepreneurs. The name that we give collectively to the synergy between technology and real estate is proptech.

    Below are the four most significant ways in which this innovative technology has disrupted the real estate industry.

    Related: Property Tech Is Creating An Incredible Real Estate Opportunity for Entrepreneurs

    Enhancing transparency

    The lack of transparency and sometimes accountability has been a long-standing problem in the real estate market, with no easy solution. At the same time, solving this challenge is of utmost importance as real estate concerns everyone. All of us need places to live in, work at and so on.

    However, the root of this problem lies in the very nature of real estate. As such a large market (currently valued at $3.69 trillion), real estate has sizable capital requirements that few can traditionally afford. In addition, although it may not look this way from the outside, the real estate space is rather limited and only accessible to a relatively small number of professionals. For the average person, real estate processes and deals have always been notoriously convoluted and obscure.

    Thanks to the changes it’s been bringing to the residential and commercial real estate market, proptech has made major advancements in this regard. The accelerated access to data, widespread use of technology tools and enhanced feasibility of fractional property ownership have largely contributed to growing transparency and accountability in the industry. Real estate trends, analyses, deals and operations are now much more transparent than just a few short years ago.

    Related: New Real Estate Technology: Disruptive Ideas Transforming the Industry

    Providing real estate access to just about anyone

    Proptech’s contribution resulted in another major disruption in real estate. By enabling data, analysis and investment access to the average person, proptech has opened the door for just about anyone to enter and participate in the industry.

    With the help of tech-based tools, even those with limited knowledge and experience can take part in real estate transactions. For example, the advancement of CRM, analysis, virtual reality and deal-closing online platforms has lowered the barriers to entry for real estate agents and brokers. As a result, the number of licensed realtors in the U.S. alone increased from 1 million in 2011 to 1.56 million in 2021. This is a growth of more than 50% over the course of only ten years.

    Similarly, while investing in real estate has always been a tempting idea for millions of Americans, many were left out of this profitable strategy due to a lack of sufficient financial resources, market knowledge, data access or even time. In the last decade, we have seen a surge in the number of technology tools that address each of these challenges and more. Therefore, we can expect the number of small-scale, beginner real estate investors to grow exponentially in the coming years.

    Related: This Tech is Disrupting Real Estate. Don’t Miss Out

    Breaking the monopoly of big players

    On the flip side, another way that this innovative technology is changing the face of real estate is by putting an end to the monopoly of big players. Traditionally, real estate has been dominated by a few large corporations and moguls that control each aspect of the industry such as development, brokerage, investing, market analysis or property management. The reason is simple — very large barriers to entry that only some could cross.

    As smaller players are now able to participate across the different segments of real estate, this is inevitably challenging the dominance of the traditional major stakeholders. While they might understandably feel threatened by this flipping reality, it will be beneficial for everyone if the industry becomes more accessible, transparent and democratic. The entry of new players will inevitably lead to accelerated growth within the industry, thus opening more opportunities for everyone involved.

    Boosting productivity and profitability

    Last but not least, proptech has forever transformed the way of doing business in real estate by raising productivity and profitability. This is arguably the most significant advantage that disruptive technology has brought to real estate professionals.

    Investors, for instance, formerly needed months of research, data collection and analysis in order to find a single profitable deal. Now with the help of certain real estate tech tools based on big data and AI, they can locate good deals within a few minutes — whether they are interested in residential or commercial properties, the ownership of entire buildings or parts of properties.

    Similarly, being a landlord and short-term rental property host used to resemble a full-time job between writing contracts, dealing with tenants, setting up rental rates, collecting rent, managing finances and all of the other tasks. Now, there are dozens of platforms that help automate and streamline the rental property management process.

    The day-to-day work of agents, brokers, property managers, lenders and others has also been expedited and facilitated in a similar manner. The end result is that real estate professionals — as well as amateurs — can complete their duties much faster and more efficiently, all while making more profitable decisions about how to operate their businesses.

    Final words

    As a firm believer in the importance of technology across the board (but especially in real estate), I am confident that we are far from reaching the full potential of disruption in this industry. I expect these four proptech trends to continue developing in the coming years. , And, new disruptions will continue to emerge as so many entrepreneurs are eager to carry on with the democratization of real estate.

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    Zain Jaffer

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  • How Small Businesses Are Teaming Up to Boost Local Economies

    How Small Businesses Are Teaming Up to Boost Local Economies

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    It’s no secret that small businesses face challenges on a daily basis. Current supply chain woes need all levels of attention as problems arrive in every shape and size. Small businesses are seeking many – often any – opportunities to help keep their lights on and doors open.


    mavo | Shutterstock

    The gap between businesses thriving, surviving, and boarding-up windows is a fine line.

    The incredible challenges over the last few years brought rapid innovation and adoption of new technologies to supply chains, which has helped small businesses purchase essential supplies to keep operations up and running.

    Small businesses make up the fabric of local communities and keep main streets populated and vibrant. Big business also plays a role in developing technology and solutions on a scale that reflects the scale of the challenge – in this case, global supply issues creating challenges at every level of business.

    When it comes to the challenges that small businesses continue to face with remote work and ongoing supply chain disruption, there is an opportunity for small businesses to partner with other small and local businesses to help survive the economic climate, while also supporting their local community.

    Strength in numbers

    One of the first steps is to help small and local businesses connect with one another. This is where new technology and innovation help the local business community get in touch, with a mutually beneficial purpose: to buy from each other.

    Innovation from digital purchasing solutions helps small businesses make a greater impact on the local community. Current technology can help direct the purchase of products and supplies to (other) small businesses in the local community

    All businesses have a unique story to tell. Ask any business owner and they’re sure to award your curiosity with their tales of success and hardship.

    Survival of the smartest

    Many people are familiar with the words “Smart TV” or “Smart Phone”, while less people know “SMART” stands for Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology. SMART objects and processes have gained awareness where they were once considered inanimate.

    Not only have advances in technology brought new efficiencies to the purchasing process for small businesses, but the benefits of innovation and digital procurement solutions have introduced a variety of fresh ideas and approaches from this resulting innovation.

    Using digital procurement solutions not only enables small businesses to more easily pinpoint cost savings, reveal opportunities, and turn insights into action, but business leaders get time back to invest in organizational strategy and business growth.

    Small businesses can leverage the power of machine learning technology and use these solutions to find and purchase business products from other small and local businesses. In turn, this helps their small business community and local economy.

    Exclusive pricing and products

    Digital procurement solutions simplify the buying process, helping small businesses easily purchase business-relevant products while shifting spend to support other small and local businesses.

    Businesses can shop from hundreds of thousands of sellers, buy products in bulk, and access quantity discounts on supplies, which starts with the purchases of two or more of the same products.

    The purchasing platform does the work of finding, retaining, and nurturing suppliers. Businesses can then create buying policies to prefer sellers based on criteria that match the company’s values and goals, choosing suppliers with certifications for diversity, local businesses, and more sustainable products.

    Simplify and organize purchases

    Organizational purchasing goals can be proactively measured by tracking purchases of products from certified local businesses and can also be filtered by certification, zip code, city, and state.

    Once small businesses can locate and purchase products from other small and local businesses, the process becomes simple and repeatable. This allows small business owners to introduce more organization to their purchasing, while also benefiting from a more simplified purchasing process, overall.

    Small businesses can now easily separate work from personal purchases, automate buying and shipping preferences, create out-of-the-box reports, and streamline the entire procurement process.

    From building to booming:

    Current innovations in purchasing can help identify purchasing behavior, discover new products and sellers, and measure progress toward purchasing goals. Small businesses can continue to focus on building and growing, along with pinpointing opportunities for savings, while also helping support other businesses in their communities.

    Whether your small business is a recent startup or a quickly-growing organization, digital procurement solutions help make running your small business easier while connecting you with other small businesses. As a collective, you can keep lights on throughout both your digital and physical “Main Street” which, in turn, benefits your own small business.

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  • Learn the Skills of a Web Developer With This Programmable Dog

    Learn the Skills of a Web Developer With This Programmable Dog

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Entry-level programmer salaries can reach $80,000+, which could make hiring a pro out of reach if your business’s budget is tight. Why not tap into your scrappy entrepreneurial vibe and try learning to code yourself?


    StackCommerce

    While that may not be a great long-term plan, it could get you headed in the right direction and prolong some expensive overhead spending. It might even be fun if you give it a whirl with a robotics kit. Petoi Bittle is a palm-sized programmable robot dog. You can use Scratch, C++, and Python to teach it to walk, run, and do tricks, and you could uncover a hidden talent.

    An accessible way to learn to code.

    Petoi Bittle is suitable for adults or young learners. You can get it as a kit you’d have to assemble or as a pre-assembled dog ready to have new tricks programmed into it. If you envision your business working with hardware, it may be useful to try assembling Bittle’s five-component system.

    Completely new to coding? Scratch can be a great place to start. Once you’ve got that down, then move on to C++ for more advanced commands before ultimately learning Python, the most popular coding language. If coding skills come naturally, you could kick things up a notch with AI by incorporating your own Raspberry Pi connection (not included with the kit).

    Start learning to use Scratch, C++, and Python.

    Whether you need to learn coding to take the next steps for your business, you want to learn more about programming so you’re more informed while hiring a developer, or you’re looking for an activity to take your mind off of work, this Kickstarter-funded programmable dog is worth a second look. Get the assembly-required Petoi Bittle Robotics Kit for $329, or pick up the pre-assembled kit for $339.

    Prices subject to change.

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    Entrepreneur Store

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  • 3 Smart Ways to Differentiate Your Ecommerce Business

    3 Smart Ways to Differentiate Your Ecommerce Business

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    The ecommerce industry has been running on autopilot in recent years, regulated by a set of “best practices” that are supposed to help businesses increase their brand visibility and boost sales. However, these practices are what’s stopping businesses from reaching these goals. While these practices might create a frictionless commerce experience through an ecommerce website, they also produce an unoriginal and boring path to purchase for shoppers. Shopper expectations have evolved; therefore, it’s time for ecommerce businesses to do the same.

    What do shoppers want?

    Shoppers want something different and new. Sixty-four percent say it’s rare to see a website that feels unique or has unexpected functionality. This means that businesses need to develop a different brand and purchasing experience that helps them stand out from millions of other ecommerce businesses.

    So, how can businesses set themselves apart and gain the attention of shoppers? A good starting point for businesses should be to break up with two prevalent best practices to elevate the shopping experience and distinguish themselves from the competition.

    Related: Want To Grow Your Ecommerce Brand? Take Advice From This Industry Expert.

    Practice #1: Frictionless commerce = the best commerce

    The ecommerce industry has long held the practice of creating frictionless customer shopping experiences. Features like streamlined search, website navigation and checkout quickly guide shoppers from the landing page to the checkout screen. However, creating a frictionless experience only benefits infrequent or one-time shoppers. Frictionless commerce might bring in new customers, but it doesn’t create brand loyalty.

    Loyal customers form a core group that can drive up to 23% of annual sales for businesses, meaning that a key focus should be to build this core group. Sixty-two percent of shoppers say they expect personalization, suggesting that they aren’t likely to return to a business if there is no uniqueness to the purchasing experience.

    Businesses that want to break away from this practice should focus on creating a new and exciting experience over preserving the frictionless commerce model.

    Practice #2: The best way to reach shoppers is through a website

    Another long-held practice that the industry has held onto is that the best way to get shoppers and convert sales is through a website. However, more and more shoppers are purchasing through their mobile devices. By 2025, it’s projected that around 44% of retail sales in the US will occur on a mobile device.

    Many ecommerce websites are not optimized for mobile, meaning that a desktop-optimized website won’t be enough to compete with other businesses. Therefore, ecommerce businesses should be prepared to find alternative routes to reach shoppers.

    Related: How To Succeed in A Competitive Ecommerce Industry

    3 tips for breaking up with industry practices

    There are three key tips to keep in mind when breaking up with the industry’s best practices. These tips can help an ecommerce business re-evaluate its current strategies and prepare for the start of 2023.

    1. Create a strong visual brand identity: Businesses can create a strong visual brand identity through a highly visual experience, and by incorporating a multi-media approach to brand assets, brands can stand out from the crowd with a compelling brand feel and identity. These aspects, such as images, video, audio and interactive elements, should be highlighted throughout a website to make the brand stand out against the competition.

    2. Change your path to purchase: Businesses should be prepared to change their path to purchase for customers. In addition to running micro-enhancement tests on product images, button colors, element placement, etc., consider running macro-tests that explore unique layouts. For example, trying out new layouts and hierarchy structures can help an ecommerce website feel distinctive and new.

    3. Develop a VIP experience: By developing a VIP experience, shoppers will feel like they are receiving an exclusive experience tailored just to them. Providing VIP experiences has the added benefit of building brand loyalty because shoppers know they won’t be able to find the experience elsewhere. Some ways to develop this VIP experience include members-only exclusive content, special sales and perks. Businesses can also run loyalty and referral programs and inject novelty into their marketing and outreach efforts. Another way to develop a VIP experience is through a mobile app. Implementing features like advanced wish lists, product recommendations and customized push notifications within a mobile app can help establish brand loyalty and create an experience that shoppers can’t get elsewhere.

    Related: 5 Ways to Provide a Positive Customer Experience in Ecommerce

    It’s time for businesses to break up with the ecommerce industry’s best practices. Businesses that are willing to change their current approaches will increase brand visibility and boost sales. It may be easier to follow industry best practices, but it creates a predictable experience that may leave your brand lost in the crowd. Shoppers want a personalized and entertaining experience, and the businesses that provide that have a greater chance of success.

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    Eric Netsch

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  • 5 Reasons to Add Texts to Your Customer Communications Mix

    5 Reasons to Add Texts to Your Customer Communications Mix

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Text messaging has become more and more pervasive in business, not just for marketing, but for all types of communications. Text Request, the business text messaging platform, recently released their 2023 State of Business Texting Report, which studies how consumers want to interact with businesses, how businesses are meeting those demands, and how to bridge gaps that may exist. Here are five key takeaways for business leaders to consider. Disclaimer: I work for Text Request and was part of this study, but that is as promotional as this article gets.

    1. Eighty-eight of consumers want to receive texts about appointments

    Appointments are the lifeblood of many businesses, and it’s clear that texting can help you set and keep more of them. Texting may also help you save time and overhead. Consumers are not answering phone calls, and they’re not listening to voicemails. However, 70% say that texting is the fastest way to reach them.

    Instead of calling customers to confirm appointments, send a text. You can send one at a time manually to each person, send a mass message for each day’s or each week’s appointments or connect texting to your existing systems to automate notifications. In any case, texting is more effective and more efficient than individually calling about each appointment. This will also help you keep more appointments on the books since the leading reason people miss appointments is that they forget.

    To set more appointments, and make more money by extension, text customers who are due for their next appointment or service. Text around annual renewals, for seasonal check-ins or whichever period makes sense for you. For example, the dealership where I got my last vehicle texts me every three months about an oil change and tune-up since that’s about how long it takes to drive 3,000 miles.

    Related: 5 Ways to Use Texting to Grow Your Sales and Marketing

    2. People want more SMS promotions (yes, really!)

    Fifty-two percent of survey respondents said they want to receive texts for promotions and discounts, yet only 29% said their businesses are currently sending these texts. There’s a big opportunity here, and it’s important to think of promotions outside the realm of retail. The report lists several examples, including:

    • Prompting customers to schedule appointments or services

    • Telling customers about new services or other offers

    • Fundraising for nonprofits and schools

    • Sharing important reminders

    • Providing discounts or incentives

    These can each be used to drive revenue for your business while creating great customer experiences.

    3. Texting works for B2B businesses, too

    The report notes that texting is sometimes thought of as a great channel for business-to-consumer (B2C) businesses, but not so great for businesses that sell to other businesses (B2B). However, business buyers are still consumers everywhere else they go.

    Eighty percent of people have texted with a business before, and as people have these experiences with consumer services, they begin to expect them from business services, too. Easy applications of texting for B2B businesses include:

    • Touching base during the sales process

    • Finding a few minutes to chat on the phone

    • Appointment scheduling and reminders

    • Customer service and support

    • Promotions about new products and services

    Texting helps you grab people’s attention and get responses. That can have a big impact, no matter who you serve.

    Related: 5 Steps Every 1-Person Sales and Marketing Team Should Follow

    4. The biggest expected trend in 2023 is texting for payments

    This is perhaps the biggest gap the report found between consumers and businesses. It’s also the area that’s expected to see the highest increase in traction over the next year. Sixty-nine percent of people want to receive texts for payment reminders, and 45% want to pay their bills directly through text, yet only 30% of businesses are texting for anything related to payments.

    This is important because taking in revenue is a critical function. If you can’t collect revenue — especially revenue you’re already owed — your business will struggle. Even small delays in collecting payments or having to spend more money to collect those payments can have a noticeable negative impact.

    This is an easy need to solve for, though, because PDF invoices and payment links can be shared through text messages. If nothing else, businesses can begin texting payment reminders to any client with an outstanding balance and include invoices as needed.

    5. Consumers are already comfortable texting with businesses

    Eighty percent of people have texted with a business before, and 58% text with a business at least monthly. Meanwhile, 90% of consumers say they want to text with businesses and other organizations. People are comfortable texting for business purposes, and they’re beginning to expect these kinds of experiences. That poses both a challenge and an opportunity.

    In order to meet customers where they are in 2023, businesses are going to have to add texting into their communications mix. The report notes it will be important to enable text conversations, not just one-way automations because customers want to use texting to reach a business on their terms. In fact, 77% say they want to text a business for customer service and support.

    For many businesses, adding texting as a customer communications channel will be a new effort. However, those who do not take advantage of it to meet customer demand risk losing out to competitors who do.

    Related: 5 Steps to Create Successful Marketing Campaigns

    What should you do with this information?

    There are several clear opportunities for businesses to increase revenue, save on costs and improve customer experiences through text messaging. As with anything in business, the sooner you take action, the sooner you’ll be able to see the fruits of those efforts. But you do not need to run out and overhaul your entire strategy all at once.

    Pick one thing that’s a relatively low lift, that you’ll be able to commit to, and implement it — like replacing appointment confirmation phone calls with text messages. As you and your team get comfortable with that change and can track any improvements, then look for the next opportunity, and repeat.

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    Kenneth Burke

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  • What is Staff Augmentation? 3 Reasons It is Vital For Your Business

    What is Staff Augmentation? 3 Reasons It is Vital For Your Business

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Recruiting and retaining exceptional talent is challenging and takes a lot of time, especially when companies in the tech space demand experienced developers and engineers.

    Moreover, filling in the gaps due to a lack of resources or specialists can be challenging and time-consuming at the same time, especially for high-tech roles like iOS developers or machine learning engineers, for which the demands have been escalating since the great resignation.

    This is where the model of staff augmentation comes into play! In this article, we will discuss the concept of staff augmentation, its increasing demand and why enterprises need to focus on in-house team expansion for quick hiring.

    Related: 10 Strategies for Hiring and Retaining New Employees

    Staff augmentation

    Staff augmentation is a type of cooperation model where businesses, from startups to corporate enterprises, source talent via staffing agencies to work with them temporarily to fill the talent gaps promptly.

    Today, staff augmentation has turned mainstream, with nearly $500 billion annual spending on global IT staffing services alone.

    Businesses now prefer partnering with staff augmentation service providers to boost the competency of their internal teams and accelerate the development process rather than spending weeks prospecting ideal candidates, conducting interviews and shortlisting candidates to fill an immediate talent gap.

    Related: 6 Ways to Effectively Navigate Market Turbulence in the IT World

    Why is staff augmentation surging in popularity?

    The staff augmentation model has been successful over recent years due to the following three reasons:

    1. It is suited for a hybrid work environment

    People willing to switch to low-paying remote jobs rather than continuing on-prem work in their previous settings indicate that the future of work is remote. Remote work is the new normal, especially in the technology and digital transformation sectors.

    Staff augmentation services are suited to cater to the needs of a remote-first global economy that still needs to prepare to let go of all the advantages of on-prem work. With this setting, businesses can extend support to their internal teams by partnering with staff augmentation service providers to cater to bridge talent gaps and meet deadlines faster.

    2. It is low risk compared to other outsourcing models

    The staff augmentation model triumphs over all the outsourcing models regarding flexibility, affordability and quality. Compared to other outsourcing models, the risks involved with staff augmentation services are zero to none due to constant collaboration with the internal teams.

    The augmented team or resource operates either as mere extensions of the internal teams or under the supervision of the in-house managers. Uninterrupted collaboration and seamless integrations of both teams eliminate any possibility of errors.

    Thus, the risk involved in this model is considerably lower than the other project outsourcing models like offshoring or managed services.

    3. Staff augmentation is flexible to scale without compromising sustainability

    As the global recession started knocking on the doors, the results of aggressive hiring and fierce spending started becoming more evident. Consequently, most businesses either stopped or at least cut-down spending on scaling by considerable margins.

    This phenomenon has kept thousands of global entrepreneurs from putting all the stakes in and investing aggressively in scaling their businesses. However, things have started to take quite an exciting turn as IT staffing, and resource augmentation services became mainstream.

    With IT staff augmentation, businesses no longer remain prone to compromising sustainability, as they can end contracts with external teams if things start going south.

    This model enables entrepreneurs to fuel their desires to achieve exponential growth and scalability without worrying about laying off permanent employees or (in the worst case scenario) signing up for bankruptcy.

    Related: 6 Ways to Effectively Navigate Market Turbulence in the IT World

    Why you need to start implementing the staff augmentation model

    The following facts and figures are clear evidence that the staff augmentation model is here to stay:

    1. The great resignation and the wake-up call

    The quiet quitting culture has been disturbing the workflow of organizations since the epidemic. Even amidst the global recession session, where companies like Meta and Amazon are forced to lay off a considerable part of their workforce, the culture of quiet quitting has not stopped.

    People silently leave their well-paying jobs due to a lack of serenity, toxic work environments, pay disparity or other reasons. As an entrepreneur, you should be prepared to deal with such cases within your organization.

    Although you must prioritize fostering a culture of collaboration and encouragement, you should also be prepared to fill in talent gaps in case a team member resigns on short notice rather than compromising on the resource quality to fill the gaps.

    2. Going above and beyond to fill talent gaps

    The onshore, offshore and nearshore markets could provide more diversity in IT skills and expertise your company needs, depending on your location. With staff augmentation services, you can access a broader universal talent pool, including from regions acknowledged for having the finest IT talents, such as Europe and Asia.

    Building external teams to bridge the talent gap using staff augmentation services can also help you save the time and cost of setting up dedicated workspaces and recruiting highly-skilled teams.

    3. Increasing cyber attacks

    As businesses switch to fully remote and hybrid working models, they become prone to cyber-attacks and data breaches. According to Statista, the data breaches in the third quarter of 2022 were at the all-time highest, with businesses reporting approximately 15 million data breaches.

    Although businesses are now setting up dedicated networking teams to safeguard confidential information from hackers and intruders, not all of them can afford it. Thus, they eventually recruit network engineers via an augmented staffing model to stay protected from potential cyber threats and data breaches.

    Related: 4 Best Practices When Choosing a Staffing Agency

    Final thoughts

    Using staff augmentation to address the talent gaps instead of outsourcing or managed services models let business owners keep the charge of the project. As a business owner, you get to choose the talent you deem fit for the role and maintain authority over the project to get things done your way.

    With staffing services, you not only eliminate the recruitment time and cost but also access a global talent of highly-skilled developers and engineers to work alongside your in-house teams to optimize overall competencies and boost productivity.

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    Asim Rais Siddiqui

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  • 3 Kinds of Ecommerce Data Insights Brick-and-Mortar Retailers Must Use to See Significant Growth

    3 Kinds of Ecommerce Data Insights Brick-and-Mortar Retailers Must Use to See Significant Growth

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Nowadays, it can sometimes feel like brick-and-mortar retailers are at a distinct disadvantage compared to their ecommerce peers. Reports of ecommerce’s global growth can make it seem like brick-and-mortar retailers are gradually going extinct.

    This isn’t the case. In fact, the National Retail Federation reports that retailers announced over 8,100 store openings in 2021 — more than double the 3,950 announced store closings. While shopper preferences clearly play a factor in the survival and success of brick-and-mortar retailers, so does a store’s ability to use the same kinds of data insights used by ecommerce businesses.

    By focusing on the right kinds of data, brick-and-mortar retailers can gain valuable insights into their customers, effectively helping them achieve even greater growth.

    Related: 4 Ways Brick-and-Mortar Stores Can Outsell Online Retailers

    1. Traffic patterns

    When it comes to tracking store traffic, ecommerce websites have it easy. Website analytics allow them to see how many people visit their website at any given time — and, of course, visitors can access their store 24/7.

    For brick-and-mortar retailers that can’t stay open around the clock, tracking foot traffic can be a bit more challenging yet even more important. Understanding how many customers enter your store at a particular time can help you understand when your store needs the most staff available and even determine key metrics like in-store conversion rates. This can help retailers understand when to run promotions or how to optimize shift scheduling — activities that directly influence sales numbers and customer satisfaction.

    One example of new tech that enables brick-and-mortar retailers to better track their foot traffic is Dor, a people-counting device that uses a thermal sensor to anonymously track how many people enter or exit a store — simply by being mounted over the entryway.

    By collecting traffic data, businesses have the baseline information they need to begin tracking conversion rates and improving their store operations, something that ecommerce retailers have long been able to take for granted.

    2. Tracking shopper behavior

    Ecommerce websites aren’t just able to track how many people visit the website. They can also track what pages they visit, what product promotions yield the most attention and more. Fortunately, brick-and-mortar retailers are increasingly gaining access to tools and devices that also allow them to see how shoppers behave in-store.

    One example of this comes from Shopic, which offers a clip-on smart cart device. In an interview with Cheddar News, Raz Golan, CEO of Shopic explained, “We have created a device that connects to standard shopping carts, turning them into smart carts only when shoppers are using it. So we’re basically allowing grocers to bring all the benefits of online shopping to their physical supermarkets. [In ecommerce], they can measure things online and know exactly what is happening — who clicked on what, how much time they spent, what page. We’re basically unveiling this data that was not available for them in the physical space.”

    The system is able to anonymously report on which items customers purchase, as well as create a heat map that shows which parts of the store they spent the most time in. Such information is helping grocers understand which products sell best at which times, as well as identify ways to optimize their store layout to maximize consumer purchases.

    Related: 67 Fascinating Facts About Ecommerce vs. Brick and Mortar (Infographic)

    3. Inventory management dashboards

    Brick-and-mortar businesses depend on having an adequate inventory of in-demand products. Optimizing in-store inventory allows retailers to restock items on a predictive basis, using analytics trends to identify when and how much to stock each item. This way, they won’t have low-selling items taking up space on store shelves or find that they didn’t order enough of an in-demand item.

    Business intelligence dashboards that provide predictive analytics based on current and past customer behavior can help brick-and-mortar retailers avoid the type of issues Target has experienced recently.

    As The New York Times reports, “[Target] had $15.3 billion in inventory, a 36% increase from a year earlier. As shoppers have curtailed their spending on items deemed discretionary, squeezed by higher-than-usual prices in essential categories like grocery and gas, Target was left with electronics and apparel that people were not buying. Target said it was solving the problem by using discounts and canceling orders for the fall with vendors, which would result in lower profit.”

    A business intelligence dashboard that links with suppliers and helps businesses adapt inventory restocks as needed can help reduce the risk of such occurrences. Reliable inventory tracking, when paired with predictive analytics, will improve profitability.

    Related: How to Survive as a Brick-and-Mortar Retail Store

    While implementing sound data collection practices for a brick-and-mortar retailer may be somewhat more challenging than they would be for an ecommerce store, there is no denying that data can still become a powerful resource for your physical store.

    By taking advantage of the tech integrations that provide ecommerce style data, brick-and-mortar retailers will be better positioned to understand shopper behaviors and market to them appropriately — while also boosting supply chain efficiency to lower operating costs.

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    Andres Tovar

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  • Are Your Business Partners Exposing You to Cyber Threats?

    Are Your Business Partners Exposing You to Cyber Threats?

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    The cybersecurity business has become everyone’s business. It only takes one viral data breach to destroy a company’s social proof and send its clients running to rival organizations in search of safer conditions. IBM estimates that the average data breach this year costs affected businesses $4.35 million, a near 13% increase since 2020. That figure doesn’t include the sometimes irreversible harm to a company’s reputation.

    Headline-grabbing data leaks aren’t limited to credit card or identity information, however. These incidents encompass anything and everything having to do with private and personal details. If you submit a car loan application, you trust the prospective lender to be a good steward of your information. When your business does business with another company, you similarly expect the same level of security.

    Related: 3 Reasons Why Privacy Matters to Your Business, Your Brand and Your Future

    In the financial services world, we’re held to high standards of security where even the smallest misstep must be reported to several entities. Ours certainly isn’t the only industry facing tremendous expectations when it comes to prioritizing the importance of cybersecurity in business, either. It’s become mission-critical across the board.

    There can be a surprising upside to so much rigidity and concern, though. If you’re doing a great job and implementing the strongest, most reliable cybersecurity solutions for businesses, you have the opportunity to make your protocols a differentiator. When customers see “social proof” of something, they tend to trust what they see. Yet, you can’t tap into this social proof if you don’t control all your cybersecurity business elements, and that includes how proactive and protective your partners act with your shared data.

    Lowering risk exposure starts from the inside

    As mentioned above, we’re in the financial services world. To maintain our license, we must use advanced data encryption tools and technologies. Encryption is essential during the process of buying currency online because so much personal information moves back and forth, including a high degree of money-related data like bank routing numbers.

    We also must follow BSA/AML compliance guidelines to the letter, just like any financial institution. Therefore, we have a BSA compliance officer who handles all compliance coordination, monitoring and oversight. The BSA compliance officer serves as a critical player in assuring regulatory entities, board members, customers and the public that we’re doing what needs to be done when it comes to lowering our risk exposure.

    Opening a money service business like ours is difficult. After taking so many steps and performing intense due diligence, we’re understandably careful about the partners we choose. You should be, too, as one bad apple can ruin the entire bunch.

    Related: Five Ways to Protect Your Company Against Cyber Attacks

    Know exactly who you’re doing business with

    All companies — especially MSBs, or money service businesses — need to be vigilant and put strategies in play to reduce the chances of a breach. A lot goes into building such a comprehensive, cohesive protection plan. Running online business transactions on a private server and implementing data encryption processes are the minimum requirements to get off the ground, but that’s just the start.

    Beyond those necessary action items, companies of all sizes should consider leveraging the following methods to make certain that anyone with access to even a sliver of your data believes in safety as strongly as you do:

    1. Vet each partner on basic compliance

    Foundational elements to review thoroughly include having up-to-date security certificates, performing detailed security audits, using a VPN to fully protect browsing data and getting federal agency approval when necessary. If a potential partner is cutting compliance corners — intentionally or otherwise — you’d be better off continuing the search until all of your concerns are alleviated. Don’t settle for less than the best.

    It’s important to treat each potential partner with the same level of due diligence, as threats and attacks can come from small startups and big corporations alike. The Verizon Business 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report found that 62% of “system intrusion” incidents originated with an organization’s partner. And the Ponemon Institute reported that 54% of organizations were “not monitoring the security and privacy practices of third parties that they share sensitive or confidential information with on an ongoing basis.”

    That’s hugely concerning. Opportunistic cybercriminals are always looking for the weakest link in the supply chain, after all.

    2. Check for third-party verification

    In the complicated digital reality we all live in, honesty can be at a premium. This can be especially true when verifying the real identity of a person — or the motives of a potential vendor. Enter third-party providers who use a variety of tactics to drill down to the actual, accurate identities of customers who might attempt to make a financial transaction or businesses that want to join forces. These third-party testers do the thankless work of monitoring platform security and infiltration.

    My company, Xchange of America, uses a third-party verification service to authenticate customer identities by specific inputs. A series of four random verification questions that only the true person would know are asked, such as the make and model of previous vehicle(s) owned, street names where the customer previously lived and previous employer(s). Confirming these unique details keeps nefarious actors at bay and prevents sales fraud.

    Different industries will perform third-party verifications differently than ours, but the importance is the same for every company. Do your partners employ thorough third-party verification tactics? Stipulate that they do.

    Related: Authentication Technology is Shaping Vendor Partner Verification and Onboarding

    3. Demand full transparency

    What happens if you start to ask questions of your partners and run into brick walls? This may be an indication that they’re not being forthright. You want partners who welcome questions because they have nothing to hide. For example, all money service businesses like ours must be registered and licensed in the states we operate in. If a potential partner is required to have certain registrations, licenses or permits and doesn’t, that’s a major red flag.

    Be persistent when it comes to getting the compliance answers you seek. Don’t be hesitant to ask pointed follow-up questions, such as how data encryption works at a partner’s company. Data breaches can be thwarted if information is always encrypted, whether it’s in motion or in storage.

    Dropbox is an example of a company that takes data encryption (and protection) seriously. According to Dropbox’s help center, files at rest are encrypted using 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). The company also uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) to protect data in transit between Dropbox apps and its servers, among many other layers of protection.

    Related: Cybersecurity Trends and Drivers in 2022

    You deserve to know the level of data encryption of any associated organization, not just that they have “some kind of encryption.” Dropbox’s transparency in that regard should serve as the rule, not the exception.

    As long as cybercriminals are willing to hack into systems, corporate leaders and their teams must find and remove their cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Just make sure that you’re not just looking at ways to improve your own cybersecurity. Insist that all companies you do business with also treat it as a pressing priority.

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    Robert Hoffman

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  • Trying to Rank for a Keyword on Google? Don’t Fall for These 3 Myths.

    Trying to Rank for a Keyword on Google? Don’t Fall for These 3 Myths.

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Over the past decade, I’ve experienced and navigated through dozens of Google updates and led SEO operations for many big brands. Throughout my SEO career, there has been no ranking factor that’s as debated as backlinks. The mystique around backlinks has led many people to believe that all you need is a high domain authority (DA) to rank competitively on search engines.

    This has led many people in SEO to use DA or domain ranking (DR) as the primary factor for search engine rankings. Backlinks are one of the most important ranking factors for search engines, and they are difficult to get, but that doesn’t mean they are the only factor that determines your rankings.

    In this post, I want to cover the common fallacies and false beliefs held around domain authority and uncover why it is not enough to rank well for a given keyword.

    Related: 8 Ways to Qualify and Rank Keywords in Google Search Results

    What is domain ranking/domain authority?

    Before diving into the different intricacies, it’s important to understand what domain ranking is. Domain ranking, also referred to as domain authority, is a metric that helps indicate the authority of a site. More specifically, it is an estimate of how authoritative a site is based on the number/quality of backlinks. Backlinks are a very powerful ranking factor on search engines, and the domain authority of a site will help indicate how much authority a site has

    According to Ahrefs, domain ranking is a metric that indicates the relative strength of a website’s backlink profile. According to Moz, domain authority is a search engine ranking score that tells you how likely a site ranks on search engine results pages SERPs. Ahrefs’ DR ranking and Moz’s DA ranking are the two most popular ways to quantify domain authority. With DR and DA, a site is given a ranking from 0 to 100. The higher that number is, the more authoritative a site is.

    To give some context, here are the DR and DA rankings of some well-known sites:

    • HubSpot.com (DA 93, DR 93)

    • Nintendo.com (DA 91, DR 89)

    • Porsche.com (DA 88, DR 86)

    Fallacy #1: High domain authority guarantees that you will outrank competitors

    One of the most common myths about SEO is that high domain authority will immediately allow you to outrank competitors. It’s very easy to look at SERP results and immediately assume that higher DA sites are ranking better than lower DA sites. In most cases, correlation does not equal causation. The reason that many high DR sites still outrank other sites is that they perform all of the other on-page SEO and technical work in addition to link building. It doesn’t matter if you have a higher domain authority if the content you produce is poor and your site is slow.

    Here’s a great example that illustrates this. Below are metrics for the top five sites that rank for the keyword “email marketing agency” on Ahrefs:

    • Site 1: Clutch.co: DR 89, UR 20

    • Site 2: Soapmedia.co.uk: DR 59, UR 18

    • Site 3: Thebrainsmakreting.co.uk: DR 47, UR 13

    • Site 4: Digivate.com: DR 45, UR 15

    • Site 5: Digitalagencynetwork.com: DR 76, UR 13

    Although Clutch.co is outranking other sites, you can see higher DR sites are being outranked by lower DR sites. This isn’t an anomaly because there are other factors that account for why a site ranks well. If you look beyond the SERP results and click on the specific blog articles, you’ll find the higher-ranking ones offer more content, and they’ve optimized their on-page SEO better. You will see similar results for most other keywords because high domain authority does not guarantee your site to outrank your competitors.

    Related: 3 Ways to Make Your Content Rank Higher on Google

    Fallacy #2: You can rank for competitive keywords without topical expertise

    If you have a high DA site, and you write one blog post about a primary keyword, the chances of you ranking competitively are slim. It’s easy to rank for content that has low search volume and is not competitive, but that traffic is not going to move the needle. In order to rank for competitive keywords, you need to show Google that your site is an expert on a specific topic. To do this, you need to develop a library of content that’s topically related. Without this, you will be outcompeted by sites that have better and more content covering your niche.

    A great example of this would be a site like Marketwatch.com trying to rank for a keyword like “gestation period of a rhino.” Even though Marketwatch.com has a high DR (93), it’s not going to rank well for this keyword because it does not have anything remotely related to rhinos. If you look at the top results for this keyword, you’ll see tour sites and animal sites that have been publishing content for years.

    You can extrapolate topic relevance to higher-difficulty keywords like “best VPN” or “best CRMs.” Generally, the more difficult a parent keyword is to rank for, the more supporting blog posts you’ll need to build topical relevance and ultimately rank better for all keywords.

    Fallacy #3: You can make up for poor content with high DA

    Another dangerous practice of some high-authority sites is skimping out on content. Although high DA sites may get more impressions and clicks on search engines, readers will bounce quickly if the content is poor. If a site isn’t nailing searcher intent and optimizing its on-page SEO, having high domain authority will accomplish nothing. The vast majority of content teams understand this, but few thoroughly understand what poor content is. Understanding this is essential to prevent your site from falling into the trap of low-quality content.

    Examples of poor content include:

    • Thin content: Thin content is the most common form of poor content. There’s a place for thin content (like definitions), but most of the time, you should be producing more in-depth content. If you’re writing on a primary keyword (e.g., “What is content marketing?”), your content should be over 1,000 words. A good litmus test is to see the top-ranking pages for a keyword and compare the word count. If most of them are over 1,000 words, you know you need to produce something similar.

    • Content that’s regurgitated from other sources: A common criticism of SEO is that many sites on the SERPs regurgitate the same content. If your content has the same headers, same formatting and same ideas as other sites, it will be categorized as regurgitated content. If you’re going to take content from other sources, make sure to cite them, restructure them, and add your unique point of view.

    • Content that’s not well-written: A telltale sign of poor content is content that is not well-written. This encompasses AI-spun content, content with many grammatical errors and content that’s hard to read. If a reader lands on your page, and the writing is hard to read and unnatural, it’s poorly written.

    Related: 6 SEO Myths Every Business Owner Should Ignore

    Avoiding these types of content on your site will help improve the quality of your writing and give you a better chance to rank on SERPs, regardless of your domain authority. Some advanced content teams use a variety of internal checklists and software to ensure that their writing is up to par; you can create and use a similar process for your content operations.

    As illustrated by some of the examples above, domain authority is not the be-all-end-all ranking factor for SEO. Although backlinks are a very important part of SEO, they’re not enough to overcome little to no effort in content and optimizing your site. If you’re trying to rank for a specific keyword, take the best possible measures instead of relying purely on backlinks. Make sure your site is fully optimized, you have enough content to cover the topic and that your content is high quality. By continuing to invest in all aspects of SEO, you’ll give yourself the best shot possible for ranking for any keyword you desire.

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    Dmitry Dragilev

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  • 5 Ways to Improve Local SEO

    5 Ways to Improve Local SEO

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Search engine optimization (SEO) is constantly evolving like any other industry. The struggle to stay on top of the ranking takes more than a post in a month. To stay rated and relevant, you must put in the time and conduct the research.

    Being easily searchable, informative and consistent is more crucial than ever for small businesses, and for that, businesses need local search engine optimization. It’s simpler than you might think to master local SEO. Here are five quick techniques to boost local SEO and make your small business rank above its rivals.

    Related: Struggling in Local Search? Here’s What Your Local SEO Strategy Needs

    1. Ensure the consistency of your NAP

    Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP). Your local SEO approach may succeed or fail based on these three simple facts. Make sure to display this information on your website prominently.

    As it will show at the bottom of every page, the footer is an excellent location for your NAP. You can also make your NAP visible on service area pages and your contact page’s body.

    Consistency is key. Your essential company details must be consistent wherever potential clients may find you online.

    Related: 5 Tips to Improve Your Local SEO in 5 Hours

    2. Enhance the on-page content

    You can demonstrate that you are the industry leader in your field for the service you offer by using the content on your site. Along with your services in your region, include specifics like street names and landmarks.

    Explain to the customer why they would require your services in that particular location. Your customer’s user experience will be improved the more you sound like you belong.

    Related: This Important Website Feature Is Crucial For Your Business

    3. Get listed in local directories

    Getting featured in local directories is a fantastic additional strategy for enhancing your local SEO. There are a lot of web directories that are specifically designed for businesses in certain regions.

    Your chances of being discovered by potential clients looking for companies like yours are increased by having a listing in these directories.

    4. Optimize header tags

    Check out this resource on the best practices for using header tags if you haven’t already looked into the topic. By developing localized service pages, you have now gained more space to construct highly targeted header tags with local-based keywords.

    Good header tags provide a general picture of the page’s overall structure and what to expect as visitors browse through the content. It would look odd if you simply loaded keywords into the header tags.

    Related: How Should You Optimize for Branded Keywords?

    5. Create relevant backlinks

    Backlinks are one of the most significant ranking elements for any website, and it is the connections to your website made by other websites. Google views backlinks as endorsements — the higher the backlinks, the more they appear in search results.

    Prioritizing quality over number is crucial while developing backlinks. Look for chances to receive backlinks from reputable websites related to your business.

    Related: What Are Backlinks and Why Do You Need Them for Your SEO?

    Style preference for SEO

    • Use dashes with a space on either side.
    • Avoid serial commas: Cabbage, tomato, and potato.
    • End quote marks should be placed inside commas and periods, and there must be one space following a period.
    • Single quotes should only be used around other single quotes.
    • Include your personal hyperlinks and avoid placing citations or URLs in parentheses below the article.
    • Sparingly use one-sentence paragraphs. The ideal paragraph length is two or three sentences.
    • Subheads should have the same parallel format. They all need complete sentences if the initial heading is a full sentence. Subheads shouldn’t contain links. Just use them in your text. After the first word in a subhead, do not capitalize the following words.
    • If you must use “he,” use “she” as well. Pluralizing your pronouns will help you avoid this formulation, at least occasionally.
    • Never use the pronoun “they” to refer to a firm, organization, or government body.
    • Maintain consistency: If you begin with the pronoun “you,” don’t change it. It’s best to avoid using “we,” “I,” “he/she,” and “you” in the same sentence. Throughout the sentence, use the same verb tense. Keep in mind that the present perfect tense shows continual, habitual action.
    • Look for repetition of the same points, words, or themes.
    • All numbers less than ten (apart from percentages) are written out. Numbers 10 or more are represented by numerals.
    • Numbers are always used to express years. With numbers, use “greater than” rather than “over.” Instead of writing “percent,” use the % symbol.
    • Verify quotes using trustworthy sources.
    • Lay out any acronyms and abbreviations other people may not be familiar with on the first reference, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses.
    • In names for the first reference, use the complete name. Only the last name should be used in subsequent references.

    Final thoughts

    For promoting your local online business, you must include local SEO. You can increase your visibility in local search results by claiming and optimizing your Google My Business listing. By getting listed in local directories and adding location pages to your website, you can draw more clients to your company.

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    Sean Boyle

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